Kerala High Court denies bail to student accused of circulating morphed images of fellow students and teachers

The Kerala High Court has denied bail to a student accused of circulating obscene morphed images of fellow students and teachers, observing that the allegation against the petitioner was serious and prima facie indicated a premeditated criminal act on his part.

Justice Kauser Edappagath noted that the petitioner was the owner of two social media accounts through which the photographs of female students were shared and offered for sale along with the purported obscene video content. The investigation had also revealed that the payments were collected through the UPI account linked to him, and that his social media accounts also held obscene and child pornographic content.

The petitioner had argued that there was no evidence linking him to the alleged offences, and that the grounds of arrest were not communicated during his arrest. However, the records reflected that the grounds were communicated to him and his relatives, the court observed.

The student was the second accused in an incident at a college in Ernakulam, where a case was registered on a complaint by the college management.